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9
News
AIR FORCE December 10, 2009
By FLTLT Eamon Hamilton and
Peter Johnson
SHORTLY after 1.10pm on
November 27, Caribou A4-140
touched down at Canberra Airport
and finished the aircraft's 45 years
of service to the nation.
CO 38SQN WGCDR Tony
Thorpe made its final landing into
a slight crosswind at Canberra
Airport's Runway 35. Our oldest
Caribou finished its career with
20,040 flying hours on the clock.
Also flying A4-140 were
38SQN's most junior pilot,
FLGOFF Matt Sullivan, and flight
engineer SGT Scott Jones. CPLs
Nick Bordujenko and Dan Amiet
comprised the maintenance crew.
They were met by CAF
AIRMSHL Mark Binskin, with
A4-140 formally handed over to its
new owners -- the Australian War
Memorial.
The handover gave many a cause
for reflection. The Caribou has been
a part of the RAAF for more than
half its 88-year history, and is older
than most of those who fly in it.
The final flight of A4-140 took
it from its original home at RAAF
Base Richmond for a fly-past of the
nation's capital and landing.
Commander Air Lift Group
AIRCDRE John Oddie spoke of
A4-140's impressive service history.
"Tens of thousands of lives have
benefitted from this aircraft," he
said.
A4-140 was the second Caribou
to be handed over to the RAAF, and
the first to land on Australian soil
in 1964.
As well as numerous aid and
humanitarian flights throughout its
history, A4-140 served in Vietnam
from 1968 to 1971. During aid
flights to East Timor in 1975, it was
commandeered by armed Timorese
soldiers who forced the crew to fly
from Bacau to Darwin.
"Uniquely, A4-140 remains the
only RAAF aircraft to have been
hijacked," AIRCDRE Oddie said.
Assistant Director Australian
War Memorial Nola Anderson
signed the acceptance for the air-
craft.
"It's here to tell the stories of
the people who flew it, maintained
it and supported it," Ms Anderson
said.A4-140 will be kept in a Qantas
hangar in Canberra while techni-
cians from Australian Aerospace
dismantle it. It will then be stored
at the memorial's storage annex in
Mitchell.
The day before, A4-152 flew
from Richmond to RAAF Base
Williams, Point Cook, where it was
handed over to the RAAF Museum.
The aircraft, which is to become
a display there, taxied through
water sprayed from two Country
Fire Authority trucks before coming
to rest.
Its crew consisted of 38SQN
XO SQNLDR Vikki Rookyard,
SQNLDR Ross Benson and WOFFs
Rodney Cairns and Peter Ryter.
SQNLDR Rookyard and RAAF
Museum director David Gardner
gave speeches and a champagne
toast was made to the 'old girl'.
SQNLDR Rookyard said it was
a sad day for her, the crew, the ADF
and Australia as a whole. "There
will never be another fixed wing
aircraft like it," she said.
The crew delivered to the
museum an honour roll of RAAF
Transport Flight Vietnam and
deployed 35SQN names to record
the aircraft's service in Vietnam.
The roll had been presented at
RAAF Base Richmond by veter-
ans of the Caribou's early service
-- including crewmembers of the
Caribou delivery flights.
Des Lovett, the co-pilot of the
crew which flew A4-152 to Australia
from Canada in 1964, was among
former Caribou pilots present at
Point Cook.
"At the time it was a very mod-
ern aeroplane. We had come off the
Caribou
history to
live on
old DC-3s, and it was quite an expe-
rience for a young guy like me to fly
this aircraft around the world," Mr
Lovett said.
"I am very pleased the Air Force
saw fit to put this aircraft in the
museum. The Caribou has lasted
longer in the RAAF inventory than
any aircraft I can think of. It has
remained in service until the day it
retired, a testament to RAAF per-
sonnel over the last 45 years, and
the original maker."
A4-152 was our second oldest
surviving Caribou. Brought home in
pieces after Vietnam in 1968, it later
served on UN operations in Kashmir
in the late 1970s, and finished its
career with 20,361 flying hours.
FARE WELL: Caribou A4-140's last crew join in a traditional
champagne toast to the aircraft after arriving in Canberra. From left,
38SQN CO WCGCDR Tony Thorpe, FLGOFF Matthew Sullivan, CPL
Daniel Amiet, SGT Scott Jones and CPL Nicholas Bordujenko.
Photo: FSGT John Carroll
MEMORIES: Above, CDR ALG
AIRCDRE John Oddie addresses
the audience in Canberra.
Photo: FSGT John Carroll
HONOUR: Below, former 38SQN
loadmaster Stewart Bonett and
FLGOFF Matt Sullivan with the
honour roll. Photo: LAC Michael Green
WELCOME: Two Victorian Country Fire Authority fire trucks salute
A4-152 as she rolls to a stop at Point Cook.
Photo: David Jones
WE'RE HERE: A4-140
arrives in Canberra.
Photo: FSGT John Carroll
BUBBLY: A4-152's co-pilot SQNLDR Ross
Benson toasts 38SQN XO SQNLDR Vikki
Rookyard as the crew farewell the 'old girl'
behind them at Point Cook. Photo: David Jones